Office of War Information
OWI was the government agency created by Executive Order 9182 June 13, 1942, "consolidating certain war information functions into an Office of War Information." It was established "in recognition of the right of the American people and of all other peoples opposing the Axis aggressors to be truthfully informed about the common war effort." It's duties included: (1)
- "Formulate and carry out, through the use of press, radio, motion picture, and other facilities, information programs dedsigned to facilitate the development of an informed and intelligent understanding, at home and abroad, of the status and progress of the war effort and of the war policies, activities, and aims of the Government."
- "Coordinate the war informational activities of all Federal departments and agencies for the purpose of assuring an accurate and consistent flow of war information to the public and the world at large."
- "Obtain, study, and analyze information concerning the war effort and advise the agencies concerned with the dissemination of such information as to the most appropriate and effective means of keeping the public adequately and accurately informed."
Elmer Davis was appointed the first director of the OWI, and he absorbed four previous agencies:
- Office of Facts and Figures (OFF) created Oct. 1941 under Archibald MacLeish
- Division of Information of the Office for Emergency Management (OEM) created Feb. 1941 under Robert horton
- Office of Government Reports (OGR) under Lowell Mellett
- Foreign Information Service (FIS) in the Office of Coordinator of Information (OCI, renamed later as OSS) created July 1941 under Robert Donovan
Elmer Davis issued on July 10, 1942, his Regulation No. 1 that pledged a "continuation of the open door policy that has always prevailed in the dealings of the government with the press and radio and other news media, an end to the conflicting statements wich confuse the public mind, and the promise to tell the truth about the nation's war effort. This is a people's war and to win it the people should know as much about it as they can." (2)
Divisions:
- Domestic News Bureau
- News Bureau
- Press Bureau
- Radio Bureau
- Bureau of Intelligence
- Bureau of Publications and Graphics
- Bureau of Motion Pictures - Private Snafu
- Bureau of Special Operations
- Foreign News Bureau under Robert Sherwood
- Photographic section under Roy Stryker - color photos from LC
Cooperated with Adco and bond drive - Sgt. Housewife
Sources:
- Executive Order 9182, Federal Register, vol. 7, no. 117, June 16, 1942, p. 4468-69.
- Regulation No. 1, Editor and Publisher 75, July 18, 1942, p. 3.
- Larson, Cedric, "OWI's Domestic News Bureau: An Account and Appraisal," Journalism Quarterly, March 1949, p. 3-14.
- Geoffrey Perrett. Days of Sadness, Years of Triumph. The American people 1939-1945. Penguin, 1973.
- Mobilization from the Center for Military History
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